Linton woman arrested after failing to appear in court in case of criminal mischief

A warrant for the arrest of a Linton woman, formerly of Switz City, was issued after she failed to show up for an initial hearing, then when it was rescheduled, failed to show up again.

Morgan Turner

Morgan Renee Turner, 23, Linton, was arrested by Officer John Agan of the Linton Police Department then booked in to the Greene County Jail around 1 a.m. today, Thursday, September 13.  

A summons was sent to Turner in early June, ordering her to appear in Greene Superior Court for an initial hearing on Thursday, June 28.

The summons was unable to be delivered or forwarded. It was returned to the court. And Turner failed to appear, so instead of a conducting a hearing, the court ordered a warrant be issued for her arrest which ended up being recalled as the court set a new date for the hearing.

Turner was then ordered to appear on Thursday, August 2, but she was a no-show, so the latest warrant was issued.

This case stems from an incident in Lyons that occurred the evening of Thursday, May 31, when Turner allegedly wanted to fight another woman who was the girlfriend of Turner’s ex-husband. This incident occurred when Turner gave a male friend a ride to a residence on Mulberry Street in Lyons, which was the residence of Turner’s ex-husband and his girlfriend.

Greene County Sheriff’s Deputy Harvey Holt was dispatched to the home after the girlfriend called police to make a complaint about the threat from Turner.

In Holt’s report, he said the woman told him when Turner arrived, she started yelling and wanted to fight, so she (the girlfriend) went inside the house to call police. But Turner followed her and she said she told Turner to leave several times. She said Turner then grabbed her phone to prevent her from making the call, took the phone outside, continued to yell that she wanted to fight, then when the woman did not go outside, Turner allegedly threw the phone on the ground, damaging the phone.

Holt talked to at least three witnesses who said they did not see what happened inside the house but they could hear the woman telling Turner to leave.

Holt wrote that when he talked to Turner, she admitted that she was not invited but followed the woman inside the house, took the phone from her and threw the phone down outside in the grass.

The preliminary charges filed against Turner are:     

• Interference with the reporting of a crime, a Class A misdemeanor, and

• Criminal mischief, a Class B misdemeanor.

On this same evening, the friend that got a ride with Turner to go to this house, allegedly punched another man in the head. Criminal charges were filed  against the friend, Kalib White, in second case, also investigated by Deputy Holt.

Turner’s bond was set at $5,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed. She posted $500 cash and was released early Thursday. And another date for an initial hearing has been scheduled for next Monday, September 17.